Sparrow - L.J. Shen Page 0,91

on our wedding day. How much had changed since then. Yet, some things remained the same.

“You better not be decent. I’m coming in.”

He opened the door, filling its frame with his impossible size. His azure blues scanned me intently. I dropped my gaze to his hands. They looked busted, his skin peeling. He smelled of bleach and gasoline. I shook my head.

“I can’t believe you,” I said quietly.

“It’s not what you think.” He threw a crooked grin my way. “I didn’t forget the Chinese. It’s downstairs.”

I pointed at his hand. “What the hell have you done now?”

His gaze became hooded, guarded, and his shoulders tensed. Still, I didn’t regret bringing this up. If he was going around killing people like life was a Quentin Tarantino movie, I needed to know.

He looked down to his knuckles, frowning. This was not him. He was always good at covering his tracks. It was almost like he wanted me to find out, consciously or not.

“Troy…” I narrowed my eyes at him. “I’m done looking past what you do. Tell me.”

“Sparrow, really.” He tried to stroke my arm.

I took a step back. “Now, Troy.”

His smile vanished. “I’m going to go ahead and be really honest about one thing, but beware. It’s not pretty, and I take betrayal very seriously, so I’m trusting you to keep your mouth shut.”

I looked up at him as his chest bumped into my body. He was so close, I was able to smell his delicious sweat and everything else he carried with him that day in the mix of bleach and gasoline.

I nodded. “I won’t betray you.”

“I know.” His tone was harsh all of a sudden. “Remember, you’ve been pushing for some kind of truth. So here’s the thing I want you to know. I’m not a hitman. I don’t kill people for a living. Never been paid to finish someone off, but…” He raised his hand, twirling a lock of my hair around his finger. “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. I did kill Billy. And I killed Father McGregor, too. Both deaths were ugly, but so was what they did.”

My knees buckled, and my stomach lurched, but it wasn’t from fear. I was elated. He had confided in me. He was cracking. My monster, my capturer, my corrupter. My lover.

“What did they do to deserve this?” I croaked, watching his finger playing with my strand of red hair.

“Billy killed my dad, a cold-hearted murder for money. McGregor told him where and when to find him, knowing his intentions. They took away the only thing I cared about.” His eyes dilated as he watched his index finger playing with my hair, his voice lost in thought. “They had to pay for their sins.”

“And you’re Boston’s God,” I finished softly.

I wanted to cry but was too stunned to do something so natural and instinctive. I shouldn’t have been surprised—the gossip warned about my husband all along—but I was. How did he live with the fact that he’d taken not one, but two lives? Then again, no one ever murdered my parent.

“Does it scare you, little lovebird?" he breathed into my ear, his huge body engulfing my small one, “To know that I’m capable of these things? I’m still on the lookout for the person who sent them to kill my dad, you know. I’m not done with my list.”

Troy let go of my hair, taking a small, yellow slip of paper out of his pocket, pressing it to my chest. I plucked it out of his hand and read it. Crupti and McGregor’s names were struck through. He didn’t know who the third person was. There was a question mark.

I dragged my eyes up to meet his. “Am I scared? No,” I said serenely. “Because I know you would never hurt me. Am I happy about what you’ve done? I’m disappointed. Playing God is immoral. Not to mention dangerous.”

His expression relaxed when he scanned my face, looking for a hint of fear or disgust. There was none. He was a monster, but he was my monster.

“A little bird told me my ex-fiancée paid you a visit a couple of days ago.” His lips were still parted. “Sparrow—”

He was going to say something more, but I didn’t want him to think that I was angry. Especially when I knew in my heart he wasn’t seeing her anymore.

“I don’t care.” I gave him a wicked smile. “As I said, this is just an arrangement, remember? Are you keeping your side of the deal?